BCA2oo2

Axle-Counter System for Railway signalling

DUCATI Energia has designed the Axle-Counter System for railway signalling automatic block system and track circuit,
named BCA2oo2, that merges, at design and application level, many recent hardware and software innovations,
constituting an indispensable warranty for the plant efficiency and safety. The Axle-Counter System has been designed
to fulfil all the requested functions for a Railway control and protection system, having besides a high flexibility to reach
elevated performances in railway signalling field.

Project solutions
DUCATI Energia carried out an operative procedure, according to CENELEC
railway standard application.
BCA2oo2 has been planned with a fault-tolerant and reconfigurable
architecture, derived from national and international experiences concerning
the optimal project of computerized systems for critical process controlling.
This architecture consists of two computers that, beyond parallel-elaborating
process data and inputs/outputs, performs cross checks on their intermediate
states to check that all the operation phases are rightly performed. BCA2OO2
assures such high selfdiagnosis and operativity that, in case of any fault,
guarantees train circulation safety. The Safety level si SIL4.

Axle-Counter System architecture

Different versions of BCA2oo2 can be configured, allowing the easy change
from a configuration to another by up-grading software and hardware of single elements in the basic system. The
BCA2oo2 DUCATI system is composed by the following elements :
a) PCA (detector) and CE-PED (electronic box) near the track.
b) CE-BCA2oo2 Equipment, in the interlocking, for elaborating data coming from CE-PED and for information
Reception/Transmission with the corresponding Station.
• The PCA (Axles Counting Place) is composed by a two electromagnetic sensors installed on the rail, sensible to the
crossing of a metallic wheel on the rail. The sensors are electrically connected to the electronic box.
• The CE-PED (Electronic box) is the unit where the sensors signals are elaborated and afterwards transmitted via
optical fibre to the CE-BCA (Axle Counter Elaboration and Automatic Block information Reception/Transmission system).
• The CE-BCA (Logic Unit), installed in the interlocking, consists of a single rack whose physical characteristics are
properly studied to be installed in any technological room.

Axle-Counter System application scheme (SBA18 e SBA20 by RFI)

The BCA2oo2 system performs its functions by means of:
1) Liberation Keys actionable from both the stations, relevant to the block section managed with BCA (Tli e Tlc);
2) Exchange of Block-signalling information between the stations, relevant to the block section managed with BCA, to
realize the safe data transmission (TDS) to send the request of consent and the subsequent consent, from a station to
the other one, in order to change the automatic block direction, using only one couple of telecommucation cable.
Maintenance and Diagnostic
The system maintenance is very easy because it doesn’t need any periodic calibration. The detector is equipped with an on-
line diagnostic that reveals the calibration decay by means of a yellow alarm on the monitor. The diagnostic function is
fullfilled by a maintenance Central Post. On the Central Post monitor is displayed the block section status, and the
conditions of sensor, Tlc and Tli keys, block relations and board faults.

Trackside Elements
Wheels detector PCA consists of two independent sensors working with two
different magnetic circuits resonant at 47 and 53 kHz, incorporated in
dielectric material mounted on a C40 steel support fixed to the rail. The
detector is provided with an ulterior steel protection against the hanging
objects. The sensors are electrically connected to the electronic box (CE-
PED).
Typical Characteristics of wheels sensors:
Quick and precise mounting on the rail, without any drilling
Complete absence of any other electronic components
Only one annual check need;
Wheel sensors in accordance with protection class IP67.

Trackside electronics
The trackside electronic box is located in an alluminium container, for environmental extreme
conditions - 25°C,+ 75°C, protected in stainless steel. The connection to the Head of Automatic
Block section CE-BCA, standing in the interlocking, is carried out with two cables, one in optic fibre
for data transmission and one in copper for feeding, to obtain high immunity to the troubles, low
attenuation and electronic simplification.

Head of Automatic Block section

The Head of Automatic Block section CE-BCA consists in two computers, each
processes more activities simultaneously and it is continually compared with
the other. The System has the capability of managing up to eight active
detectors, it performs with sampling frequency of at least 10 kHz, while the
DSP section clock is at 20 MHz and the microprocessor elaboration section
frequency is 16 MHz. The block information data change between two
adjacent Stations is carried out via integrated modem, at 9600 bps. All the
Head of Automatic Block electronics and the interfaces with the interlocking
are contained in a rack cabinet 19” – 6 units.

System Characteristics
Power consumption for each Head of Block 100 Watt;
Power consumption for PCA and CE-PED 40 Watt ;
Supervision of track sections with no limit of a maximum number of
simultaneus counting;
Traversing speed of 0 to 360 km/h for open line and 0 to 150 km/h
for track circuit inside the station;
Distances of 10 km between wheel sensor and electronic box.
Easy project planning of axle counting system;
Fail safe data trasmission between two CE-BCA Head of Automatic
Block in compliance with EN50159-1;
Compliance with EN50126 EN50128 EN50129 EN50122-1
Compliance with UIC 790 R;
Diagnostic on-line with confortable diagnostics tools.
 1.7. Automatic Block Section Typical Layout

The Typical Lay-out of an Automatic Block Section between two station X and Y is arranged like in the
following picture:
Automatic Block Section X-Y

w StationX StationY z

Block Section X-Y X

PCA PCA

CE-PED CE-PED
CE-BCA CE-BCA

Block Section Y-X

INTERLOCKING X INTERLOCKING Y

PCA PCA
G G G G

S R R L L R R S
Station X Station Y
to CE-PED to CE-PED
1.8. Axle-counter used as track –circuit typical Layout

01 CE-PED6

CE-PED7
CE-PED1 CE-PED3
02 03

CE-PED8

CE-PED2 CE-PED4

04
CE-PED5 CE-PED9

CE-BCA
CE-BCA

ACEI

Station

CDB CE-PED
01 CE-PED1 – CE-PED3
02 CE-PED2 – CE-PED4
03 CE-PED3 – CE-PED4 – CE-PED5 – CE-PED6 – CE-PED7 – CE-PED8
04 CE-PED5 – CE-PED9
2. System Hardware Architecture

Each unit CE-BCA, Head of Automatic Block section, of a single station consists in 2 computers (A and
B) independent between themselves, which note the same signal coming from independent physical
inputs, and manage identical controls, with independent physical outputs.
All the safety parts are designed with safety technics according to EN 50124 and EN 50129.
Generally hardware is functioning by transfer of dynamics signals (frequencies), controlled by filter
designed to face accidental auto-oscillation. In the case it is impossible to use these dynamics signals,
the system uses logical states, continuously checked by software to verify the corect interpretation.
More in general all the outputs “vital” type are feeded by a controlled “fail-safe” circuit which consent
to deenergize the output in case of fail, with the consequent immediate block occupation.
The sub-systems consist in the following physical modules:

• CE-BCA
- System Watch Dog module;
- Elaboration Section (Back-End e Front-End);
- Vital Input /Block Relations module;
- Vital Output module ;
- Power supply module;
- Modem module;
- CE-PED interface module;

• CE-PED
- Transducer Optic-electric module to interface PCA to CE-BCA;
- Power supply module;

• PCA
- Detector S;
- Detector L;

Detector Track equipment

PCA

DETECTOR L
Electronic box DETECTOR S
L
R G
R G
CE-PED
In the following picture are represented the “Hardware Architecture Scheme” and “Elaboration Module
Composition”
”.
Hardware Architecture scheme

Watch Dog Safety Controller-Comparator (CPS/C)

CE-BCA Back-End Computer (2/2)

MASTER
in the
interlocking Front-End Computer (2/2)
SLAVE
From Int. Vital Input Vital Output To Interl.
IN-VIT/VDC OUT-VIT

Modem
To the next
station
CE-PED Interface (Optic CE-BCA
–electric transducer) Power supply

Data transmission by fiber- optic connection

CE-PED
CE-BCA e PCA interface CE-PED
(near to the rail) (Optic –electric transducer) Power supply

S Detector Station side L Detector Line side

Bobbin G (Magnetic field generation) Bobbin G (Magnetic field generation)
Bobbin R (Magnetic field measurement) Bobbin R (Magnetic field measurement)

PCA (fixed to the rail)

 ELABORATION MODULE COMPOSITION

Board
Comparation module
CPS/C A/B

Board
MODEM
Board Board
MASTER A MASTER B
Board Board
SLAVE A SLAVE B

Board Board
IN-PED A IN-PED B
Board Board
IN-VIT/VDC IN-VIT/VDC Scheda
A B ALAR

Board
OUT-VIT A

Board
RIC-
PED
Elaboration Elaboration
Section Section
A B
B
2.1. Elaboration Section- Master and Slave Boards
The actual digital technology doesn’t consent to realize devices functioning with the only hardware “fail-
safe”, for this reason the “fail-safe functioning is carried out by a programmable logic architecture,
through theelaboration results checks.
CPU-MEM equipment satisfy the following needs::
• Possibility to keep the configuration information also in case of a long lack of feeding
(memories type RAM ZeroPower and TimeKeeper);
• Elaboration speed and capacity suitable with the quantity of elaboration to do in time
compatible with the process under control;
• Memory capacity suitable both for actual functions and for future implementations;
• Serial communication system full-duplex ;
• A local communication system between the boards CPU-MEM which form unit C/P;
• A double couple of frequency output dedicated to the relation with the “supervision” board
(CPS/C);
• Generation of the microprocessor clock frequency and of the frequencies necessary to the
output functioning.

2.2. CPS/C Board

CPS/C is a fail-safe device , formed by three independent sections, that receives the informations sent
by CPU-MEM in form of couples of frequency signals, check theese signals and , in case of positive
check, activates the vital feeders which supply the necessary voltage to the check stage of the
computers A and B vital outputs.
In case of negative check the vital feeder is disabled , with the consequent deactivation of the vital
outputs connected to such feeder; CPS/C therefore checks in a safe way the corect functioning of the
computers of the unit CE-BCA.
 WinBCA
System Diagnostci for Axle-Counter System for Railway
This program allows both querying local BCA through RS232 serial port on the front panel that the centralization of
information through a modem card with a double MODEM to a central place for maintenance. Using this software you
can make a thorough diagnosis of the BCA is that the interface ACEI related apparatus.

a. State CE-PED and Elettromagnetic Sensor

b. State of comunication
c. State of Drive Relay
d. State of Axel Counter

POST CENTRAL MAINTENANCE

DETAIL TO THE POST OF MAINTENANCE